Blade for fowl-plucking apparatus



Oct. 9, 1951 c. R. KEMP BLADE FOR FOWL PLUCKING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet1 Filed Jan. 8, 1947 INVENTOR.

60/1211: EIQ'mp.

ATI'OP/VEKS Oct. 9, 1951 c. R. KEMP 2,571,042

BLADE FOR FOWL PLUCKING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 8, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII I 11 IN V EN TOR.

Calvin B ffe'mp A TTQLPNEYS' Patented Oct. 9, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE BLADE FOR FOWL-PLUQKIN G APPARATUS Calvin R. Kemp, Delaware; OhioApplication January 8, 1947, Serial No.: 720,706

3 Claims. 1

:My invention relates to blade'for fowl-plucking :apparatus. It has todo, more particularly, with apparatus for plucking or removing thefeathers or down from various types of fowl such as chickens,turkeys,;geese or ducks.

This application is a continuation-in-part of .my opending application,serial No. 685,478,

ifiled July 22, 1946, now abandoned.

The-most commonly usedfowl plucking machine at the present. timeincludes a rotatable drum, which is driven at-high-speeds,-that car-.ries aplurality of individual plucking fingers extending radially fromthe surface thereof. These ingers are usually made of rubberso that they.are sufficiently flexible to bend, upon contact .withthe fowl, andexert a rubbing action on the fowlwhich plucks or rubs the feathers fromthe skin of the fowl.

It is an object of this invention to eliminate the .necessity ofprovidingsuch a large number of individual fingers and to provideinstead blades or .strips of flexible material, such as rubber, whichextend for the completewidth of'the drum and which project substantiallyradially therefrom or outwardly at a suitable angle at circumferentially.blade or strip of the type indicated in the preceding paragraph whichhas a fowl-engaging edge so designed that it will effectively remove allfeathers including those on therelatively small surfaces ortheiowl, suchas the surfaces of the .legs, wings and neck and those frombetween thewings and the body ofthe fowl and between the legsand the body and otherportions whichare not easily accessible.

Another object of my inventionis to .provide vmeansfor attaching theflexible blades to .the

drum so that the blades can be attached thereto easilyand quickly and beremoved with ease when it is necessary to replace them becauseof wear.

Another :objectrof -my.-invention is to provide vmeans for attachingatheflexible blades to the .drum which is of .sucha'nature that the bladescan be attached'to the drums of machinesnow commonly in use and whicharenow provided with circuleropenings or sockets for receiving .oe innerends of the fingers.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the present inventionwill appear from vthe following description and appended claimswhen-considered in connection .with the accomvpanying-drawings forming apart ofthe specification wherein like reference charactersidesig- .natecorresponding parts inthe several views and wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view, .partly broken away, of a machinein which my invention isembodied.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view, partly broken away, of the machine.

Figurev 3 is a perspective view of a-portiomof one of the ,flexibleblades drawn to an enlarged scale.

Figure 4 is aview, partly in plan and partlyin section, of a portion ofthe drum drawn toanenlarged scale.

Figure 5 is an end view of a portion of a drum illustrating the actionof. the flexible blades on ,a fowl held against the rotatingblade-carrying 'drum.

Before explainingin detail the present invention, itis tobe understoodthat the inventionis .not limited in its application to the detailsiofconstruction and arrangement of parts illustrated .intheaccompanyingdrawings, since the invention'iscapable of other embodiments-and ofbeing practicedor'carried out in various ways. -It isto be understoodalso that the phraseolog-y or terminology-employed herein, is for thepurposeof description and-not of limitation.

In Figures 1 and 2, I have illustrated a fowl -plucking machine which inits general structure islike those'now commonly in use. Themachineincludes acabinet l which contains a drum .2 that is mounted forrotation about a horizontal axis. The drum may be driven at suitablevariable speeds by means of a driving mechanism.3.

According to my invention, instead of mount- .ing ,on the drum 2.largenumber of independent .flexible fingers,iI provide a setof flexibleblades} of the vtypeshown in Figure 3, which .areattached tothe drum bythe novel attaching means which Lprovideand which includes channelmembers 5.

The blades-.4 are preferably relatively; stiff yet .suflicientlyflexibleor .yieldable to prevent .tear- .ing-or damaging of the skin of thefowlwhen they contact therewith while being carried by .the druml during thehigh speed rotation there- .of. ltispreferred to form the blades 4 fromrubber, although other suitable materials might be used. The blades .4are adapted tooextenjd. the full width of the drum. Each of the blades"has a laterallyv projecting attaching. flange 6 .on its lower edge andextending the full length thereof. ,The flange isjoined to the bodypor-.tionof thelolade by means of an inwardly taperresponding to the widthof the drum 2.

ing upstanding section I which at its upper extremity is substantiallythe same thickness as the body of the blade. The body of the blade isprovided on both faces or sides with a series of vertically spacedlongitudinally extending parallel ribs 8 which extend the full lengththereof. This arrangement of the ribs results in channels 9 being formedbetween the ribs. The outer surfaces and side surfaces of the ribs arearranged substantially at right angles relatively so that the ribs havefairly sharp edges and, consequently, will more effectively pluck thefeathers.

In order to increase the efficiency of the blade 4 in plucking feathersfrom small surfaces of the fowl, such as legs and wings, and fromrelatively inaccessible surfaces, such as between the legs and body orwings and body, I provide a series of large notches or recesses H] atequally spaced intervals along the blade. These notches extend aconsiderable distance into the blade and, as a result, a plurality oflongitudinally spaced outwardly extending fowl-engaging flexibleprojections II are formed on the outer edge of the blade. The faces ofthe projections H are provided with the ribs 8a and grooves 9a,corresponding to the ribs 8 and grooves 9 of the body of the blade. Theextreme outer ends of the projections are tapered to a relatively sharpedge, as indicated at l2, and the two tapered P surfaces are providedwith closely spaced parallel ribs [3, with notches formed therebetween,

the ribs being of small triangular cross-section with their sharperedges outermost. The two side edges [4 of the intermediate projections Hare sharp and the edges converge towards each other slightly from theinner end of projections II to the outer end thereof so that theprojections are of somewhat less width at their outer ends than at theirinner ends where they are integrally joined to the body of the blade andhave merging curved joining portions IS. The two end projections Ila arethe same as the intermediate projections H with the exception t at theouter edge of each is a straight continuation of the corresponding endof the body portion of the blade.

The channel members 5 are of a length cor- They may be welded orotherwise secured to the drum, but in the example illustrated they arebolted to the drum, by means of the bolts [6 which extend throughlongitudinally spaced openings formed in the base thereof. These boltsare extended through openings H in the drum which are provided atcircumferentially spaced intervals in longitudinal rows. If the bladesare to be applied to machines of the type now on the market, the boltsH5, or similar bolts, may be passed through the openings in the drumwhich are provided for receiving the flexible fingers. After thechannels are mounted on the drum, the blades 4 may be easily and quicklyattached to the drum by inserting the flanges 6 through the ends of thechannel members, the upstanding sections 1 passing through the slots [8formed in the top wall of the channel members. The slot I8 in eachchannel member 5 extends the full length thereof and is of substantiallythe same width as the lower extremity of the tapered section 1 of theblade. The flanges 6 will fit snugly in the channel members and thesections 1 will fit snugly in the slots I8 thereof to preventlongitudinal sliding of the blades in the channel members. Thus, theblades 4 will be mounted upon the drum and will extend the full widththereof. The blades will extend radially from the drum atcircumferentially spaced intervals. Whenever it is desired to remove anyof the blades, due to wear or for other reasons, the flange 6 may beslipped from the end of channel member 5.

In the use of my invention, the drum is rotated at a relatively highspeed in a clockwise direction, as shown in Figure 5. The fowl is heldby the operator in contact with the blade-carrying drum. Upon contactingthe fowl, the body of the blades will bend rearwardly and the ribs 8will contact with the feathers and skin of the fowl and pluck thefeathers. The thickened section I for attaching the body portion of theblade to the base or flange 6 will give the blade suflicient rigidityand resiliency that adequate rubbing force will be applied to the skinof the fowl to remove the feathers therefrom. The thinner body portionwill result in suflicient flexibility that the body will bend adequatelyto provide sufficient contact of the forward side of the blade with theskin of the fowl. The projections II and Ila of the bladewill have moreflexibility than the body of the blade. The notches l0 therebetweenprovide spaces in which the legs, Wings and neck of the fowl will enteras these notches correspond in shape to those parts of the fowl whilethe projections will at the same time remove the feathers from thosesections of the body adjacent to the portions which have entered therecess. The ribs 8a on the faces of the projections will function in thesame manner as the ribs 8 of the body of the blade. The sharp side edgesH of the projections will remove pin feathers from the portions of thefowl fitting therein while the sharp outer edges l2 of the projections,carrying the closely spaced small ribs l3, will remove the pin feathersfrom the portions of the bird which they engage.

After continued use, the blades 4 may be removed and reversed so thatthe opposite sides thereof will contact the fowl.

It will be apparent from the above description that I have providedimproved fowl plucking means. Because I employ blades rather thanseparate fingers, forming of the rubber plucking means is greatlysimplified and the cost is, consequently, greatly reduced. Furthermore,the mounting of the small number of blades as compared to the largenumber of fingers on the drum and the removal thereof for replacement isgreatly simplified. The fowl-engaging projections on the blade and thenotches therebetween provide means for contacting the small surface ofthe fowl and the usually inaccessible surfaces thereof so that all ofsuch surfaces are effectively cleaned of feathers.

Various other objects will be apparent from the preceding description,the drawings and the following claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A blade for use in fowl-plucking apparatus comprising a continuousstrip of flexible material such as rubber, said strip being providedwith alternate recesses and projections on its outer upper surface, saidprojections being flexible and adapted to contact certain portions ofthe fowl, said lower portion of the strip having continuous ribs formingchannel-like portions, said flexible projection portions beingsubstantially flat yet tapering upwardly, said projections havingclosely-spaced small alternating ribs and notches on their outermostupper edges for facilitating the plucking of feathers and hair from thesmaller body portions of the fowl.

2. A blade according to claim 1 wherein the outer ends of theprojections are of thinner cross section than the lower body portion ofthe blade so as to present less force to the fowl initially and whereinthe lower portion of the blade is thicker in cross section to preventthe complete collapse of the blade as the fowl is forced thereagainst.

3. A structure according to claim 1 wherein the lower ends of theflexible projecting portions have an arc of rubber therebetween on whichis formed the continuous ribs and channels adapted 15 to aid in removingthe feathers of the fowl.

CALVIN R. KEMP.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name I Date D. 149,086 Norman Mar. 23, 19482,154,846 Heymann et. al. Apr. 18, 1939 2,271,551 Hoover Feb. 3, 19422,305,232 Barker Dec. 15, 1942 2,314,700 Hanshaw Mar. 23, 1943 2,350,656Williamson June 6, 1944 2,358,693 DuPuy Sept. 19, 1944 2,412,108 Toti etal. Dec. 3, 1946 2,432,523 Johnson Dec. 16, 1947

